


For Want of a Ghost

by Pauliestorylover



Series: What Could Have Been (BNHA) [4]
Category: Danny Phantom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: And hella sus, BAMF Danny, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki Redemption, But they don't realize that, Confused Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Danny and Izuku together are so OP, Everyone except Danny and Izuku thinks they're OP, Gen, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Suspected Traitor Midoriya Izuku, U.A. Has a Traitor (My Hero Academia)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29655411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pauliestorylover/pseuds/Pauliestorylover
Summary: The plan was simple, really—Danny would pretend to be Izuku’s quirk. Izuku would go to U.A., become a pro hero, and they would get to help people together.Said plan became a lot more complicated when factoring in two things: one, a semi-immortal bastard who could take and give quirks at a moment’s whim; two, Izuku had told said bastard’s archenemy he was quirkless.And guess who appeared to have suddenly manifested several quirks thanks to Danny’s help?
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Midoriya Izuku
Series: What Could Have Been (BNHA) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926127
Comments: 17
Kudos: 159
Collections: ScribeSmith's BNHA Fanfic Library (AKA: Izuku is Best Boi)





	For Want of a Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> Day n of me posting one of the many chapter ones in my drafts. Again, I have no idea when this will be updated.

Danny was bored. It had been two centuries, _at least_ , since he last ventured out of the Infinite Realms. He was bored, and he needed something new.

One may think that, the Realms being infinite, Danny would never run out of adventures. That might even be true, in a world where Danny never accepted the crown, but that world was not this Danny’s home. Instead of infinite possibilities, this Danny was stuck with the burden of people recognizing him and, even worse, accommodating him wherever he went.

It wasn’t that bad, at first. He had been busy, cleaning up the mess left behind by the absence of a competent king for centuries ~~, distracting himself from the inevitable deaths of basically everyone he knew in his human life~~. It felt ~~amazing~~ nice, ~~to not be distrusted for once~~ to have so many people supporting him in his mission to rejuvenate the Realms. 

The Infinite Realms anchored itself to the King. It took many years to remove the lingering corruption from Pariah Dark’s rule, so many years that by the time he was done, his loved ones’ deaths had become a throbbing memory instead of a searing pain on his core.

Now, finally, the Infinite Realms were invigorated. Even the barren Barrens that used to lie outside his parents’ portal was not so…barren anymore.

Danny finally could take a vacation. And for once, he wanted to.

How were things on the material plane? The last time he was there, the biggest news was a glowing baby being born. Danny hadn’t quite understood the world’s excitement, but then, he had superpowers since he was fourteen and was king-in-waiting to an entire plane of existence since he was sixteen. His measurement of weirdness might be a little off.

~~Still, he had wanted to check on the baby, just to get whatever supernatural entity making the baby luminescent to stop messing around, and to protect the poor child and her family from the government. Then Tucker, his last fully human friend, died, and that thought all but flew out of his head.~~

It was decided, then. Danny was going on a vacation.

* * *

“…so…you’re what? Going on a vacation and leaving me in charge?” Ellie gave Danny an unimpressed stare. “I thought you were married to your job.”

Danny shifted slightly, “I…um…yes? I just…I dunno…” He waved his hands around to try – and fail – to convey his point. “I just want a break. And I know the Realms will keep operating even if I leave for a while, but knowing my luck, something will end up breaking. I’d feel a lot better if I have someone I trust taking care of things, but everyone else already have responsibilities, and the last thing I need is Vlad claiming kinship _again_ because he is – was – a halfa. So…can you…? Please? I mean, you don’t have to if you want to, but I’d really appreciate it. But…ah…no pressure or anything…I…um…”

“Danny,” Ellie interrupted with a laugh, “you haven’t gotten any better at negotiations since I last saw you.” She ignored Danny’s protests. “Just relax and go. I’ll keep an eye on things if it makes you feel better. Ancients know I’ve been trying to get you to take a break for the last few decades.”

Danny smiled, relieved. He hadn’t really expected Ellie to accept; she was a free spirit and hated staying in one place for too long. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

Ellie snorted, “Just have fun, cuz. Oh, and the material plane has changed a lot since you left. No spoilers; but I thought you’d like a warning.”

* * *

Danny opened a portal – one of the perks of being the King – and landed in Japan. A place called Musutafu, to be precise. He was glad the language hadn’t drifted much; he could still understand the locals with the Japanese he had learnt centuries ago.

_‘The material plane has changed a lot since you left’_ turned out to be the understatement of the millennia.

People had _superpowers_ now, for one. And there were superheroes. Superheroes that _get paid_. Teenage Danny would’ve loved that.

It didn’t take Danny long to figure out the world had become saturated with ectoplasm. He didn’t even need to rely on humans’ emotions to get enough energy. The superpowers – _quirks_ , as the humans called them – were from ectoplasmic contamination. Danny knew better than most what powers that could grant – though his case was probably closer to _resurrection with side effects_ than just _gaining superpowers_.

Oh, and the glowing baby was apparently the first human to be born with a quirk.

Danny should probably investigate this – so much ectoplasm leaking into the material plane couldn’t be natural. But it had been two centuries already; fixing the problem would probably just cause upheaval. Besides, he was on vacation.

Yeah, he was on vacation. The investigation could wait.

Now, he wanted to see these ‘pro heroes’ in action.

* * *

Danny was observing a fight in a shopping mall when a green-haired boy caught his senses.

The pro heroes were…interesting, he supposed. They fought well, much better than teenage Danny and the ghost hunters who chased him. Danny was content to let the pro heroes do their jobs while he discreetly helped around – just a touch of intangibility here to stop people from being crushed by debris, a touch of invisibility there so that criminals would trip over what seemed to be empty air, and sometimes a touch of both to provide a path for victims to escape.

He _did_ learn the meaning of 'discreet' at some point, despite his former aversion to it.

He was just _helping_ some projectile barely miss a passerby when the boy caught his attention.

The boy, who had curly green hair and green eyes, was simply writing on what seemed to be a notebook, not doing anything noteworthy. He might seem plain and unassuming to most humans, but not to Danny’s senses.

He had an utter lack of ectoplasmic contamination; there wasn’t even a _drop_ of ectoplasm in him. After spending the last two centuries in environments with abundant ectoplasm, the boy stood out like a _beacon_.

Strange.

That night, Danny researched on people without superpowers. These people, who were called _quirkless_ , apparently made up about 20% of the world’s population. Except most of the 20% were from western countries, which the ‘quirk pandemic’ reached last. Of the small quirkless population in Japan, nearly all of them were middle-aged or elderly. Of those who _weren’t_ old people…well, from what Danny could gather, their lives weren’t that great.

Danny’s dad had had a theory that some people might be more resistant to ectoplasmic contamination due to their genetics. He had thought it might make them more resistant to overshadowing.

Danny would bet the boy was one of those people, probably from genetic mutation if his family didn’t have the same problem. It would explain how there wasn’t a single drop of ectoplasm in him.

Poor boy. Being a teenager was hard enough without being _the different one_.

The next day, Danny tracked the boy down by following the strange sense of a human-shaped void, because that was exactly what the boy was – a human-shaped, ectoplasm-resistant void in a world saturated with ectoplasm.

He learnt the boy was called Midoriya Izuku, and his mother _did_ have a quirk. He learnt Midoriya wanted to be a hero even with his ‘disability’.

He also learnt Midoriya was bullied. Badly.

It didn’t just stop on Dash’s level – being stuffed into lockers was bad enough, but this was much, much worse. Midoriya was beaten up on a daily basis, so much that his injuries matched teenage Danny’s ghost fighting injuries, which was quite a feat.

At least Midoriya had never been decapitated. Normal humans couldn’t survive that.

Danny _encouraged_ the bullies to leave Midoriya alone. He couldn’t call himself a ghost if he didn’t know how to freak humans out with phantom touches, inexplicable chills and disembodied whispers.

He did it again the next day. And the day after. And then again.

Gradually, the bullies stopped beating Midoriya up, instead resorting to words. It wasn’t enough, but it was still preferable to fists and explosions.

And slowly, without Danny even realizing it, his Obsession latched onto Midoriya.

* * *

There was a pro hero, All Might, who seemed to be revered above all other heroes.

To be honest, Danny didn’t see the appeal.

_Real_ heroes didn’t leave boys on rooftops after crushing their dreams. Especially when the boy in question had nearly _died_ moments ago.

Okay, to be fair, Danny _might_ have been haunting Midoriya Izuku for a while, and his Obsession _might_ have already latched onto him.

It still didn’t change the fact that All Might _broke the dreams_ of ~~his human~~ Midoriya. And _left him on a rooftop_ while the boy was _emotionally unstable_.

If it weren’t against his Obsession, All Might would be dead. Or ruined. Or both.

Danny had spent the day away from Midoriya because he was meeting a local ghost. He had regretted it when he returned to find ~~his human~~ Midoriya drowning in a pile of human filth. He regretted it even more when ~~his human~~ Midoriya was rescued by the boy’s idol before Danny could save him, only to be emotionally murdered immediately afterwards.

In a way, All Might had done more harm to Midoriya than the slime villain.

Danny wanted to reveal himself, to comfort ~~his human~~ Midoriya and tell him _he_ believed in the boy, but why would Midoriya accept the words of a complete stranger? From Midoriya’s perspective, they had never met.

Slowly, Midoriya picked himself up and made his way off the building. Danny hovered around the boy, invisible like always, unwilling to let Midoriya out of his sight for the time being.

And then, they came upon the slime villain again.

* * *

Danny was _this close_ to killing All Might. Not only did he let the slime villain escape, he wasn’t doing anything to save the hostage.

Granted, the hostage was one of Midoriya’s bullies, but he was still a hostage, wasn’t he?

Actually, none of the heroes were trying to save the hostage. Ancients, why were they all so useless?

Danny was just about to screw it and save the bully – secret existence be damned – when ~~his human~~ Midoriya _ran out at the slime villain to try to save his bully_.

In that moment, Midoriya reminded Danny of his teenage years so much it _burnt_. That was such a stupid, self-sacrificing move, and it was _exactly_ what teenage Danny would’ve done.

He might be a centuries-old king, but his Obsession to help and protect – to be a _hero_ – were still there. In that moment, he knew his mind was already made – he was going to help Midoriya Izuku become a hero.

* * *

Deku was trying to attack the villain – the idiot, he was going to get himself _killed_ – and the fucking useless _heroes_ were standing around refusing to help – damnit, he was going to die – this was such a fucking stupid way to die – he was never going to be a hero – damnit, _damnit…_

Suddenly, Katsuki could _breathe_. The slime was still there, covering his nose and mouth, but he could _breathe_.

And then All Might arrived.

* * *

After the excitement of the second slime villain attack, Midoriya silently slipped away while the heroes were worrying over the bully. Danny followed the boy to an out-of-the-way park. The park barely had anything, just a pond and a few trees. Midoriya sat down under one of the trees. He hugged his legs close to his chest and stared desolately at nothing.

Danny’s core ached to sense ~~his human~~ the boy so desolate. So empty of hope. Before, even when Midoriya was being beaten up, he still gave off this glimmer of hope. It was gone now.

Still, he couldn’t reveal himself to Midoriya right away. If he appeared too alien, he might scare the boy off. Then he wouldn’t be able to help ~~his human~~ Midoriya.

Danny closed his eyes and imagined what he had looked like in ‘ghost form’ when he was a teenager. He imagined his long white hair shortening, his pointed ears rounding to resemble human ears, the blueish-green tint to his skin fading. He let his constellation freckles be; it had always been his favourite feature. Danny felt his stature shorten to that of a teenager, his face regaining some of the baby fat. He camouflaged his ring and his crown, turning them into thin silver bands that encircled his finger and his forehead respectively. Lastly, Danny changed his cloak and robes into a hoodie and a pair of trousers with the color theme of his original suit. There was even a Phantom insignia on his right sleeve.

Opening his eyes, Danny flickered back into the visible spectrum for the first time in weeks, well out of Midoriya’s line of sight. He examined his reflection in the pond and nodded. He was passably human. 

No, wait, his teeth were still too long. Too sharp.

Danny closed his eyes again, imagining his canines being grounded into the shape of normal human teeth.

He opened his eyes and peered at the pond reflection.

...damnit. Now his teeth were practically non-existent.

Sticking his finger into his mouth, Danny rubbed at the stumps that used to be his teeth and sighed. The fangs were better. With the world having all sorts of mutations, he probably – _hopefully_ – wouldn’t even stand out that much.

Okay. It was time for Midoriya Izuku to officially meet Danny.

* * *

Izuku was moping in a park in the middle of nowhere when the boy appeared, also out of nowhere.

“Hi,” the boy said quite abruptly, startling Izuku out of his stupor. He had an accent, Izuku noticed. It was as if he had just materialized next to Izuku. “I’m Danny Phantom. Or Phantom Danny, if I put my last name in front. Call me Danny.”

What a strange name. It sounded western. Was Phantom a foreigner? That would explain his accent. What was he doing here? To make friends? No, Izuku’s ‘friends’ always abandoned him once they found out he was quirkless. He was not getting his hope up again. “What do you want? I’m _quirkless_.” He spat. Better to get this over with as soon as possible.

Phantom – Danny – blinked. “I know.” Wait, he did? Then why was he talking to Izuku? “You know,” Danny smiled slightly as he sat down next to Izuku, “you’re supposed to introduce yourself.”

“I’m Midoriya Izuku. Why are you talking to me when you know I’m quirkless?” He hoped Danny wasn’t going to play pranks on him. He didn’t want to deal with that on top of everything that happened today.

“I saw you saving the…the boy with spiky blond hair today. You were very brave. Very reckless and self-sacrificing, but very brave. I’d even say you were very _heroic_.”

This boy _knew_ him. At least, he knew how much Izuku wanted to be a hero, if the emphasis on ‘heroic’ was any indication. “You know me.” Izuku accused, “Did Kacchan send you?”

“Your bully?” Danny snorted, “Of course not. I’ve been observing you for some time.”

“ _Why?_ ” Izuku frowned. Even if that was true, why was Danny wasting his time observing a Deku like him? “I’m no one special.”

Danny made a face and exclaimed, “You _are_! Midoriya, you are so unique you caught my sens—eye the moment I was near you. Your analysis is brilliant, your drive to help people is admirable, and your determination is amazing! Don’t let those quirkists tell you otherwise!”

Izuku couldn’t believe this was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him in a long time. “Okay, fine, even _if_ I accept that, why have you been observing me?”

“Ah. Promise me you’ll keep an open mind.”

Izuku frowned; but gestured for Danny to continue.

“I’m a ghost.”

“A _what_.” Izuku must’ve misheard. Even if Danny was a ghost, why was Danny telling him?

“A ghost. You know, one of those spooky, supernatural creatures that haunt old houses?”

Izuku stared at Danny dubiously, “This is a prank, isn’t it?” There was probably a camera hidden somewhere, about to catch stupid Deku falling for such a stupid idea. He knew it; there was no way anyone would voluntarily be so nice to him.

“It’s not. I promise.”

“Prove it. You don’t even look like a ghost.” He wasn’t giving anyone the satisfaction of falling for such a stupid prank.

Danny sighed. “Give me your hand.” When Izuku gave him another dubious look, Danny added. “Look. If this was a prank, I would’ve done something more dramatic and funnier.”

Reluctantly, Izuku held out his hand. Danny placed it on his chest. Izuku frowned; there was no heartbeat.

“See? I don’t have a heartbeat. Can you feel a slight thrum? That’s my core vibrating – it’s basically the ghost equivalent of a human heart and brain mixed together.” 

If Izuku concentrated, he could indeed feel something humming in Danny’s chest. “Okay. Say I believe you. Why are you telling me this?”

Danny grinned, “I know you can become a great hero, whether or not you have a quirk. And I want to help you.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes. He ignored the comment that he could be a great hero. He was _not_ getting his hopes up _again_. “How?”

“I want to be your quirk.”

Izuku snorted, “You can’t just _be_ my quirk; quirks are genetic! You can’t give or take them or _become_ them.”

Danny opened and closed his mouth. “Actu—I’m a ghost. I can fly, turn invisible and intangible, turn _things_ invisible and intangible, create energy blasts and constructs, and telekinetically lift things. I also have ice powers. I can _definitely_ pretend to be your quirk.”

“Say I believe you again. _How_ exactly are you going to pretend to be my quirk?”

“I…there’s this thing called occupancy, which basically means a ghost sharing a human’s body without affecting the host’s – the human’s – mind. If we do that, you can access some of my powers.”

That…that was too good to be true. “What’s the catch?”

“Huh?”

“What’s the catch?” Izuku repeated. “Are you going to possess me? Or chip away at my free will until I become a mindless puppet?” There was no way Danny was doing this out of the goodness of his heart. _No one_ was that nice to Izuku. Not even All Might.

Danny snorted, “If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t reveal myself to you. The catch is that I get to be your friend and help you become the best hero you can be.” He held out his hand. “Do we have a deal?”

Izuku stared at the outstretched hand. If he did this, he would get a quirk, and Danny would…get unlimited access to his body? There was no way to tell if Danny was telling the truth, and from what Danny had just implied, he could easily take over Izuku’s mind if he wanted to.

But if he didn’t do this…

All Might had said it himself; there was no future in heroics for a quirkless Deku like Izuku. If Izuku didn’t do this, he would not have a future at all.

So what did Izuku have to lose?

Izuku reached out to grasp Danny’s hand, “Deal.”

Danny smiled warmly.

Then, he disappeared into Izuku’s body with a flash of green light.

* * *

Normally, it took effort to occupy a human body without outright overshadowing them.

With Midoriya, Danny didn’t have this problem. Maybe it was Midoriya’s resistance to ectoplasmic contamination, but Danny could easily slide into the boy’s body without resistance, while maintaining his distance from Midoriya’s mind.

It was perfect, really.

Danny could feel Midoriya panicking slightly at his sudden disappearance. The boy still didn’t trust him yet. Danny winced; he really should have thought to warn Midoriya beforehand. _“Midoriya. I’m here.”_

Danny felt the boy stiffen in surprise. _“Wow, you’re really in my body. And we can communicate telepathically! That’s really cool! How many powers can I access? Do I have automatic access to them or am I—”_

Danny loved when Midoriya rambled. It was _so_ cute. _“You’ll be able to access more of my powers the longer we practice. Do you want to learn how to make an ectoblast – it’s my kind’s name for an energy blast – to see what we can do?”_

Midoriya nodded, trying not to seem too eager.

_“Focus on your hands. Picture green energy gathering in your hands. Remember to direct it outside, or you might burn yourself. Ectoblasts can be hot.”_

Ectoplasm gathered in Midoriya’s palms. The boy shrieked in joy, _“I did—”_ His excitement, unfortunately, set off the ectoblast. The ectoblast shot upwards, nearly singeing Midoriya’s eyebrows off.

Despite the near-injury, Midoriya grinned brightly. Danny could sense a glimmer of hope rekindle itself. _“Thank you, Danny! I have a quirk now.”_

_“I told you we could do this, Midoriya.”_

Midoriya hesitated for a moment before adding, _“Call me Izuku.”_

Danny blinked, and then his core began vibrating in joy; ~~his human~~ Izuku was beginning to trust him! _“Let’s become the best hero possible, Izuku.”_


End file.
